Portable washing machine



May 2, 1939. P. K; MiSENHlMER a AL 2,156,541

PORTABLE WASHING MACHINE Filed Dec. 15, 1936 Paul -1 MIsenfi/mer VVf/ll'om A PW/hams a. 4 a 0 w a a. 4 l 0 w n J 9 0 1 MN .4 7v 1 U 0 o J a a m .1 C 6 J 5 a J a afia Patented May 2, 1939 PATENT GFFEQE 2,156,541 PORTABLE WASHING MACHINE Paul K. Misenhimer, Los Angeles, and William A.

Williams, Tujunga, Calif.

Application December 15, 1936, Serial No. 115,930

2 Claims.

This invention relates to clothes washing machines and particularly to portable washing machines which are designed for apartment house use and for use in other households having confined living quarters. .The invention is further particularly related to washing machines having de-mountable washtubs.

Ordinary washing machines arevusually large and heavy, making it very difficult to move them 1Q about. Furthermore, the tub is usually attached to the machine and not designed to be removed for the purpose of placing over a fire to heat the washing fluid contained in the tub, or if it is designed to be removed itis usually too large to be moved when containing washing fluid. Suchmachines are obviously unsuitable for use in living quarters where floor space is at a premium and where, if a washing machine is to be used, it must of necessity be stored away in some closet when not in use.

It therefore becomes a primary object of this invention to provide a small, light weight, easily portable clothes washing machine of durable construction which is designed principally for household use, and which is effective to wash clothes placed therein by agitation of the clothes with the washing fluid.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a portable washing machine having an easily detachable or demountable washtub which may be readily lifted off the rest of the machine so that it maybe placed on a stove to heat water or water and clothes in the tub. In' this connection it is an object of this invention to provide a washing machine having the clothes tub supported on and driven by a pan which is adapted to be oscillated by a suitable motor and connectin; means located below the pan, a friction ring being interposed between the tub-and the pan. It is a still further object to provide this aforementioned pan with such a design that it protects the driving mechanism from any water or washing fluid which may spill over the tub.

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of the portable washing machine of our invention showing a preferred form of tub construction. r

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the clothes tub of Fig. l

with the cover removed. 50 Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the invention with all but the lower portion of the housing and agitator unit in section, showing the'relation of the Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation of a modiflediorm of clothes tub.

The invention comprises generally a clothes tub supported upon and normally positioned in a driving pan, a friction ring being interposed be- It tween a portion of the pan and the tub. and a housing containing an agitator unit adapted to support. and oscillate thepan. In accordance with the object of this invention to provide a portable washing machine of light weight, these in elements are all of comparatively small size and of light weight construction, the tub being preferably formed of aluminium.-

. Referring to the drawing, referencenumeral |l indicates an open top housing in which is 15 mounted an agitator unit generally indicated by l2, upon which is carried a driving pan It in which the clothes tub I4 is normally positioned. A friction ring l5 of rubber or other suitable material rests upon the pan I 3 and is thus interposed between it and the tub It. More particularly describing the agitator unit I2. this unit consistsof an electric motor l6 having a cord I I for connection to a suitable source of electricity. The motor I6 is provided with a pulley I8 which is connected to a larger pulley l9 by means of a belt 20. The pulleylii is mounted on a shaft 2| which is journaled in a gear box '22 integral with and below a plate 28 which is mounted on suitable posts 24 and 26 which in so turn are carried by a base plate 26 on the bottom of housing II. This shaft 2| is connected by suitable gear means (not shown) in the gear box 22 to a vertical shaft 21 on the upper end of which is mounted a crank 28 having a crank pin 35 29 at its outer end. Journaled in. the plates 26 and 23 is a vertically extending shaft 80 upon which is mounted a spider 8| keyed thereto at its upper end. Shaft 30 also carries a crank 32 having a crank pin 33. This pin 33 and pin 29 4-0 of the crank 28 are connected by means of a connecting rod 35. The connecting rod 84 has a hole 35 in its end in which is attached aspring 38 connected downwardly to the plate 26 at point 31. This spring, although not an essential part of 65 the invention, serves to steady the connecting rod on the twopins on which it is carried, with consequent smoother operation of the machine.

By means of suitable screws 40, which coopcrate with the spider 3|, 9. driving pan I8 is mounted on the spider. This driving pan has a in turn surrounded by an annular depressed face 43. The edge of the pan is formed with an outwardly and downwardly extending flange that rotation of motor It serves to rotate, by

means of belt 20, the pulley l9 which, through gear means (not shown) rotates shaft 21, thus rotating the crank arm. 28 on which is pivotally mounted the connecting rod 34. Movement of the connecting rod causes crank 32 to oscillate, thus rotatively reciprocating or oscillating the shaft and spider 3| thereon. The impartation of movement to the spider 3| is efiective to oscillate the pan l3 which is attached thereto and thus, through the medium of the friction ring I5, upon which tub l4 rests, the tub is oscillated, thus providing an agitation of water and clothes therein and thus providing a washing action which is efiective in cleaning clothes. This tub IQ is preferably constructed with a plurality of radially inwardly extending perforated vanes 54. In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, four of these vanes have been shown and they are mounted on the tub wall by'means of screws 56 extending through holes 51 in the tub. The screws are threaded into an enlarged portion 58 of the vanes. Suitable handles 59 are provided on the tub so that it may be readily lifted from its support. The tub has a cover member 60 and handle 6| therefor.

From this construction it can be seen that the clothes tub I4 is removably mounted in the driving pan l3 and is oscillated by the driving pan through the medium of the friction ring l5 interposed between the two members. The weight of the water and clothes in the tub is sufllcient to hold the tub in engagement with the ring I5 during agitation and is sufiicient to prevent any slippage of. the tub relative to the driving pan. The tub may be removed at any time from the pan by merely lifting it therefrom, no clamps or other attaching means b'eing necessary in this invention as between the tub and the tub supporting and agitating means. Thus the tub may be placed upon a stove to heat water therein and then subsequently placed upon the machine for agitation of the wash fluid with the clothes to be washed.

Fig. 5 illustrates a modified construction of the tub in which the vanes, here indicated as 65, are fastened to the cover 66 of the tub by means of suitable screws 61 which are threaded into. the cover. This construction necessitates the use of clamps of any ordinary type such as those shown at 68 in order to hold the cover to the tub when the machine is being run, as

the force exerted against the vanes 65 by the clothes and washing fluid tends to cause rotation of the tub relative to the cover. Without the clamps the tub would reciprocate while the vanes and the cover would tend to remain substantially stationary.

We claim as our invention:

1. For use in combination with a wash tub, tub supporting and driving means comprising: an open top housing; a vertical shaft rotatably mounted in said housing; a motor in said housing; means connecting said motor and said shaft for imparting an oscillating motion to said shaft; and a driving pan mounted on said shaft adapted to accommodate a wash tub, the main portion of saidpan being within said housing,

said pan having a. peripheral flange extending over and beyond said housing, thereby forming acover for said housing and acting to prevent entrance of liquid into said housing.

2. For use in combination with a wash tub, tub supporting and driving means comprising: an open top housing; a vertical shaft rotatably mounted in said housing; a motor in said housing; means connecting said motor and said shaft for imparting an oscillating motion to said shaft; 9. driving pan mounted on said shaft adapted to accommodate a wash tub, said pan having an annular raised portion, having an annular depressed portion surrounding said raised portion and terminating in an upwardlyextending wall portion, said pan having an outwardly extending flange beyond said upwardlyextending' 

